Reliving '40s Forever in Loveland

World War II event '40s Forever presents a glimpse into life during war times

By Shelley Widhalm Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
07/06/2013 06:46:14 PM MDT

Loveland residents Rick Summer, left, and Garrett Summer, 12, look up at the underside of a WWII-era B-17 bomber before climbing inside to look around during the '40s Forever event Saturday at the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport.
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Steve Stoner
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LOVELAND -- As a Gray Lady of the American Red Cross, reenactor Janice Walker did double hospitality duty.

The Westminster woman welcomed guests Saturday to her military tent filled with war memorabilia, while also representing a war-era hostess tasked with boosting the morale of hospitalized soldiers.

"The Gray Ladies were known to help, but they weren't what you consider a medical team," Walker said.

Walker was one of dozens of reenactors demonstrating history at replica World War II camps and reenacted war battles during the second annual '40s Forever: A Weekend To Remember event at the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport, 4824 Earhart Road.

The reeanactors came from several living history groups, including the WWII Historical Reenactment Society and the Living History Reenactment Association, and used authentic and reproduced gear, weapons, radios, uniforms and supplies to demonstrate life in American and German war camps.

"We're just trying to keep history alive," said Walker, who has war artifacts and personal letters from her late father, Earnest Glenn Walker, a World War II veteran. "If we don't do this, it's going to melt away."

The '40s Forever weekend event kept that history alive through displays of 1940s airplanes, vehicles and motorcycles, as well as tours of authentic warplanes, the Honor Flight of Northern Colorado reunion breakfast for veterans, and a USO-style historical presentation and a hangar dance.

More than 500 veterans and their families attended the breakfast, which was hosted by the Honor Flight, a non-profit organization that transports veterans to Washington, D.C., to see their WWII memorial completed in 2004. The organization has transported 1,300 veterans since its inception in 2008.

"It's just part of our organization's effort to thank all the veterans for all they've given, so we can have the life we have," said Lee Seward, vice-president of the Northern Colorado Honor Flight board of officers. "It's important for everybody to see these veterans being honored."

Caiden Warren, 5, right, and his dad, Brian, talk with Mike Langiano, left, and Brian Branson about the M5A1 "Stuart" light tank that was on display Saturday during the '40s Forever event at the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport.
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Steve Stoner
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Estes Park resident Dennis McHenry, 87, flew the Honor Flight two years ago in recognition of his service in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946 during World War II.

"People need to know about World War II and the fact it covered the entire world. It isn't like the little battles we have now," said McHenry, who enlisted when he was 17 and served as a combat engineer, spending much of his time at a telephone switchboard. "It brought the country together. Everybody realized they were in the war effort."

Eighty-year-old Phil Williams, who sang the National Anthem during the breakfast following the Posting of Colors, served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and was a Purple Heart recipient. He was a first sergeant of a tactical fighter squad during the war and in the military from 1950 to 1971.

Williams, who lives in Longmont, took the Honor Flight on Sept. 11, 2011, 10 years after 9-11.

"It was very, very emotional to see because it made me think of all the sacrifices that had gone into serving our country," Williams said. "It was good to see old friends, to see other veterans that have served our country, that served for the cause of freedom."

Martin J. Podel, a World War II veteran living in Longmont, took the same Honor Flight as Williams.

"It was memorable and sad, sad because of the amount of people that died," said Podel, 87, who served in the U.S Navy from 1944 to 1947 as an aviation photographer. He enlisted the day after his 18th birthday, because "it was the thing to do," he said.

Attendees to the '40s Forever event look on while a battle scene is reenacted using World War II era uniforms, weapons and vehicles on Saturday at the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport.
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Steve Stoner
)